New Jersey Devils Goaltending Situation Not In A Good Place

The New Jersey Devils have had an incredible run for the better part of three decades in terms of having very good goaltending. They had the greatest goalie to ever live from the beginning of the 90s to 2014, and during the 2013 NHL Draft, the Devils traded the 9th overall pick to Vancouver in exchange for goaltender Cory Schneider. Schneider has been the Devils main stay since Brodeur’s retirement.

Things have not been going all that well in terms of goaltending as of late for the Devils. Schneider has been struggling lately and he has been dealing with injury problems the last few seasons.

On Monday, the team has announced that Schneider was placed on injured reserve retroactive to 12/16 and recalled MacKenzie Blackwood from the Binghamton Devils. He practiced with the team and will likely backup Keith Kinkaid until Schneider comes back. He might even get a start.

Schneider has been a struggling goalie for the past few seasons, after making a name for himself as an elite goalie in his first few seasons as the Devils number one. His save percentages with the Devils by year went .921, .925, .924 and then began to dip with .908, .907 and this season its .852. His goals against averages in the same years were 1.97, 2.26, 2.15, 2.82, 2.93 and then this season its an abysmal 4.66. Something is clearly wrong here. Did he forget how to play goalie? Is he injured? Nobody really knows for sure, but it needs to get corrected quickly or he will be in trouble.

Keith Kinkaid has been okay this season. He was outstanding in the second half of last season, but this season so far he has been just okay. A lot better than Schneider obviously, which isn’t good when you look at each of their contracts and their “roles” on the team.

Schneider was supposed to be the goalie to take the reigns from Martin Brodeur. That was looking like it was going to happen for about three seasons. It is very hard to replace the guy who is the all time leaders in wins and shutouts and a three-time Stanley Cup Champion, yet Schneider was doing that.

Everyone used to say, if the Devils could only find some offense, they’d be a true contender with Schneider in net. Some used to say Schneider kept the Devils out of the McDavid sweepstakes. They weren’t good enough offensively to make the postseason, but they were too good to be true lottery position.

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Right when the Devils start doing some things to acquire some offense is right when Schneider’s numbers started to dip. The first season with less than stellar numbers for Schneider was Taylor Hall’s first season with New Jersey. Now they have Nico Hischier, Kyle Palmieri, and other depth scoring and Schneider cannot get it done.

Here we are in a season where the Devils are beneath expectations with bad goaltending. Not being great defensively is a huge issue too.

I’m still a believer in Cory Schneider. I think once he gains some confidence and gets a regular season win for the first time in almost a calendar year and the team plays well defensively in front of him, he can still be a great goalie. It is up to him with a little help of his teammates to get him back on track.

With MacKenzie Blackwood up from the minors in Schneider’s absence, the team could see him make a start sometime this week, but that remains to be seen. This season in Binghamton he has a record of 6-7-2, with a 2.69 goals against average and a .911 save percentage. Not elite but respectable numbers in the American Hockey League. If he were to get a start with the big club, it would be his first NHL start.

The New Jersey Devils will need all of Cory Schneider, Keith Kinkaid and possibly the youngster Blackwood to play well if they ever plan on getting over the hump within the next few seasons.

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